


these bitter kinds of hunger (milk & honey).

by Pomodoridori



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bruises, Burn care, Concussions, F/F, Gen, I Do What I Want!!!, Minor Injuries, as in literal injury-burn-care, no explicit police brutality... but will tag if that becomes a thing, no idea if I wrote any of them accurately I was just having fun!!, past Adam/Blake is mentioned but not graphic or explicit or anything. its just a reference., police / military people are involved, set after the bees v Adam fight except he doesn't die during the fight, this probably isn't an Adam redemption but honestly I don't know yet.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:07:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27663808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pomodoridori/pseuds/Pomodoridori
Summary: Blake and Yang have some tough calls to make.  Adam's not helping.
Relationships: there's bg yang/Blake but its not super focused atm
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	these bitter kinds of hunger (milk & honey).

Energy blazing through her, Yang sank her fist into Adam's abdomen, twisting her body to wrench his sword arm around and rip the blade from his hand. There was a soft kind of squelch from the cartilage in Adam’s shoulder and he gave a small grunt of pain, almost inaudible, as the breath was forced from his lungs. Ember Cecelia fired, and there was the rush of displaced air as Adam was launched backwards into the ground. 

The earth buckled around him as he skidded, the last of his aura protecting him from the worst of the impact, but as he flipped along Yang saw Adam’s aura flicker and shatter. 

Then there was silence. One breath. Two. Yang deactivated her semblance and primed Ember Cecelia.  _ Maybe he won’t get up, _ she thought hopefully.  _ Maybe he’s dead or dying. _

In her left hand she clutched Adam’s sword. Casually, Yang threw it over the side of the cliff. She wasn’t about to let him get it back. It’d been easily ten seconds by now, and Yang’s hopes were rising. And then she saw the movement through the clouds of dust and dirt that surrounded the rubble.

In the crater, Adam was staggering to his feet. He was panting, staring at her in a rage. One of his hands patted frantically at his holster, and his eyes widened when he realized that Wilt was gone. He looked, just for a moment, terrified, but then anger came crashing down, twisting around his mouth. Yang lifted her arms the tiniest bit higher, readying herself to reenter the fight. Adam took a deep breath and opened his mouth--probably to scream something--

and his eyes rolled back into his head. He collapsed face-forward into the rubble, kicking up a puff of dust and cracking his forehead against the rocks with an audible clunk. Moments later, Blake popped over the rim of the cliff and sprinted towards her.

“Yang!” she cried.

_Oh thank gods_ , Yang thought as relief washed over her. _She’s all right_. Yang caught Blake in a crushing hug. “We did it!” Yang said, but Blake tensed and Yang pulled back.

“Where’s Adam?” Blake’s voice was scared and angry.

Yang turned to look. “Passed out in that crater. I think he might be almost dead, actually.”

Blake made a relieved noise and pulled Yang in for a hug. “Thank god,” she whispered against Yang’s chest, “I thought he got away.”

They held each other for a while like that, with Blake trying not to cry and then starting to sob when Yang told her that she’d always be there for her. Blake managed to stutter out that she wasn’t going to leave again, that she’d keep her promise, that she’d  _ meant _ what she said, and Yang stroked her hair until Blake managed to breath again.

Finally, Yang pulled away. She sighed, and jerked her head over to where Adam lay. “So what’re we gonna do about him? We can’t exactly leave him here.”

Blake nodded. “I don’t want to give him the chance to escape and hunt me again. That was terrifying and--” Blake closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. “He doesn’t get-- shouldn’t get-- the chance to hurt us or anyone else again.”

Yang raised her eyebrow. “He can’t hurt anyone else if he’s dead. Do you want to do that? Kill him? It’s not like it’d take much, at this point.”

Blake’s mouth did something conflicted, and she shook her head. “No. I-- I can’t do that. I want him dead, but… I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.”

Yang gave her a nod. “I’ll follow your lead on that. So, we call the cops on him?”

“Yes.” Blake crossed her arms nervously, and her ears flatted to the back of her head. “I’m still worried, though. If he escapes custody and comes after us--”

“Hey.” Yang put a hand under Blake’s chin, and gently lifted it so she could look Blake in the eyes. “If he comes after us again, we’ll be here for each other. Okay?”

Blake’s hand found hers, squeezed. “Okay.”

Yang grinned. 

\---

In the end, they bound him with some of the cable wire Yang had in her back pocket. When Blake saw it, she asked, “What do you even have that for?”

Yang flashed her a bright smile and cocked a brow. “For tying up the baaad guys~” she teased.

“No, seriously, Yang--”

Yang shrugged, unclipped Blush from Adam’s waist, stole the dust and bullets loaded inside, and threw the remains over the side of the cliff. “I found it at the farm. I snagged some in case we’d ever need to scale something.”

Blake pulled a face at their reminder of their encounter with the Apathy, and bent to it.

\---

They were halfway back to the cliffside, Adam slung between them like a giant paperweight, feet dragging against the ground, when he began to stir. Blake went tense, the hand holding Gambol Shroud jerking up, and Yang brought Ember Cecelia up to his face. Adam groaned and turned his face around to stare uncomprehendingly at Yang’s armored fist.

He blinked up at Ember Cecelia muzzily, then turned to look at Blake. 

“Stop moving,” Yang ordered, and Adam’s face swiveled her way again. He squinted at her. Yang could see his pupils trying to contract to focus on her, but they kept slipping back open. Finally, he mumbled, “...Blondie.” Then something must have clicked in his brain, because Adam’s eyes bugged out before he gave a cry and wrenched himself backwards. Blake leapt away, and Yang whirled to face Adam, Ember Cecelia raised with the intent to fire. 

Adam had fallen over, and was struggling to get back on his feet. The restraints that fastened his wrists and ankles kept him lying there in the dirt, writhing and cursing. Yang lowered her weapon, but kept it primed to fire if needed.

“Adam.” Blake’s voice was cold, angry. “Stop. We’re taking you into custody.”

Adam stilled, and rolled over on his back to stare at her. “Blake,” he rasped. And then, after a few tense, long seconds, he made a face like he’d bitten into a lemon.”...What?? Why the hell didn’t you just kill me?”

“Look, we seriously considered it,” Yang cut in. “But we weren’t just gonna leave you there, either. If anyone deserves punishment for their crimes, it’d be you.”

Adam pulled a face at her, but didn’t protest. 

Yang scowled. “Can you stand?”

Adam glared at her. “No.”

“Ugh, great.” Yang stomped over, meaning to grab his elbow and wrench him to his feet, but Adam kicked at her. It wasn’t a hard kick-- certainly wasn’t anything that’d stop her if she put her mind to it-- but in an overabundance of caution Yang stepped back before he could trip her and turn the tide in his favor.

“Stay away from me!” Adam hissed, kicking some more.

Yang was about to knock him unconscious again when a bullet drilled into the dirt about three inches from Adam’s nose. The sound of the gunshot echoed through the trees, loud and eerie. Adam went very, very still.

“That is  _ enough _ .” Blake was holding Gambol Shroud steady, and her voice was colder than anything Yang had heard from her before. “Adam, if you make this any harder on us, I  _ will _ put a bullet through your skull.”

Adam deflated. “Fine,” he growled into the ground.

Yang grabbed his elbow and yanked him to his feet. She didn’t miss the hiss of pain he made when she jostled his shoulder. Yang tried to tamp down on the vindictive little smile that flitted across her face at the sound, but she doubted she managed to quell it entirely. It didn’t matter anyway, since Blake was busy staring down Adam like she wanted to skin him alive.

Adam stumbled, and Yang grunted as his weight shifted onto her.  _ Damn, why the hell is he so heavy _ , she thought.

Yang looked to Blake, but Blake shook her head. Yang understood. If she was in Blake’s position, she wouldn’t want to touch Adam either, especially if he was awake. She felt like she was getting hives down her arm just from touching him, anyway.

“Okay,” Blake said, keeping Gambol Shroud trained on Adam’s torso, “let’s go.”

\---

Progress back to the cliffside was painfully slow. Now that Adam was awake and Blake was refusing to touch him, Yang found that she couldn’t just drag him like they’d been doing earlier. The restraints around Adam’s legs prevented him from taking any big steps, and he kept swaying dangerously and leaning most of his weight on Yang. He was  _ definitely  _ concussed. It was annoying, but Yang refused to take the restraints off. Safety first and all that. She’d considered just slinging him over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry, but the idea of that much of his body touching hers gave her the creeps. She was too tired anyway, besides.

After a few minutes passed, Adam opened his mouth.

“Whatever you’re gonna say,  _ stow it _ .” Yang snapped.

Adam gave her a glare with those unfocused eyes of his. “No.”

Yang grit her teeth and considered punching him in the gut.

“I want my mask back,” Adam said. His words were a little slurred.

“What do you mean, ‘I want my mask back’-- what  _ fucking _ mask??” Yang growled.

Adam shifted against her shoulder, and for the first time, Yang realized how tense he’d gotten in the last five minutes of their walk.

“The mask I was wearing when I-- when I was trying to kill you.”

“Yeah, pal,  _ real  _ good idea to bring up the fact you were trying to kill us half an hour ago,  _ that’ll _ help your case--”

“Adam, you weren’t wearing a mask,” Blake interjected. 

Adam stopped walking, and Yang nearly tripped them both from the abrupt halt. She hissed at him and elbowed his side in annoyance.

“Yes I fucking was, what the hell do you mean,  _ I wasn’t wearing my mask _ ?”

_ Yeah, _ Yang thought,  _ mark that up to ‘seriously concussed’.  _ “ _ Don’t  _ fucking talk to Blake like that--”

“Adam, you had a strip of cloth, not that Grimm mask you always--”

“Okay, okay,  _ fine _ ! I didn’t have the mask, whatever-- I just--” there was an edge of panic to his voice now, and Adam cut himself off to stare at the ground, hunching his shoulders in on himself.

Yang growled again. “Fucking spit it out already and stop wasting our goddamn time.”

“I don’t want them to see it.” His voice was small, now, and painful. 

“Who see  _ what _ ?”

“I don’t want  _ them _ to see my scar.”

Yang’s gut twisted a little, but she also wanted to punch him again. “Look, we don’t have anything to help you with that. It’s not like they wouldn’t just take it off you anyways.”

“But--” 

“No.  _ Listen _ to me. You can’t just take your face covering off to manipulate Blake and then demand that we get you another one. You don’t get to do that to her any more. And not to me, either.  _ Got it _ ?”

“Fuck off,” Adam said, low and vehement. Yang decided to take the higher road and keep her comments (and her fists) to herself.

After that, he was quiet, except for the occasional hiss of pain. The further they walked, the tenser Adam became.

Finally,  _ finally _ they reached the clearing. It looked like most of the cliff had been blown to bits. Yang felt a pang of guilty terror until she saw Ruby, safe and sound. Weiss and the others looked all right too, if a bit ruffled. Qrow was sporting a black eye, but other than that appeared unharmed.

“Yang! Blake!” Ruby said, delighted. “We were so worried! What happened? And who’re you ca--” Ruby cut herself off to stare at Adam with wide eyes.

Adam, for his part, flinched away to look at the dirt. Yang could feel him starting to shake now, and the sweat that was starting to drip onto her from his arm.  _ Eugh _ , she thought.

“He attacked me,” Blake said. “And now we’re going to put him in jail. He doesn’t get to skip out on the consequences of his actions this time. Not like Haven, or Beacon.”

“Apparently he stalked her  _ across half of Remnant _ ,” Yang said, giving Adam a bit of a shake, and then stepping out from under his arm.

Adam collapsed with a groan of pain. He rolled to lay on his side, doing his level best to cover his scar by tucking his chin to his chest and pressing that half his face into the dirt. 

Yang pulled out her scroll. “Okay, so tell us what happened. Are we still trying to hide from the military or can we go ahead and call the police to pick him up?”

Ruby nodded. “Go ahead and call it in, it’s fine.”

Blake turned to Ruby. “I’m sorry that I messed up the--”

“No,” Ruby said firmly, taking Blake by the shoulder. “It’s not your fault. I’m just glad you’re both here now.”

Blake put her face into the juncture of Ruby’s neck and held on tight, trying not to cry again. She felt another pair of hands-- long, slender, cold-- tap her back and then wrap around her and Ruby both. Blake looked up.

“Weiss,” she said.

“For the record,” Weiss said, “I’m glad you’re both back safe, too.” 

Blake smiled, and teased, “Nice to know you still care, Ice Queen.”

“Hey!” Weiss was indignant, but she didn’t stop hugging them until Ruby started to wiggle impatiently.

Yang was still on the phone with the Argus police force-- but as they broke apart she ended the call. “They said they’d be here in about ten minutes.”

“Good,” Blake said. She gave Adam a distrustful look, but he had rolled over so that they couldn’t see his face.

“So, are we leaving him here and using the ship to get away or…?” 

“No, Yang, the ship crashed-- we’ll be able to steal a different one, Cordovin said--”

Yang made a face. “ _ Cordovin  _ said we could steal one?”

“Yep!” Ruby said, popping the P. “A lot happened while you guys were gone.”

“Uh, yeah, why don’t you give us the rundown.”

\---

When Weiss saw the brand on Adam’s face, Blake swore that every drop of blood drained from Weiss cheeks in a matter of milliseconds. Weiss made an aborted, horrified little sound, eyes wide and shining like she was about to start crying. Blake put a hand on her shoulder, and Weiss jerked like she’d been slapped.

“Weiss,” she said.

Weiss looked at her like she was drowning, and Blake pulled her in for a hug. Weiss clung to her like a lifeline.

Blake turned to look at Adam as he was being loaded into the drop ship. Her ears folded back against her head. “Hey, Ruby,” Blake called out.

Ruby turned, smiling, before noticing something was wrong. “Hey, what’s up? What’s wrong?” Ruby said, jogging back over to them. 

“Could you swing by with the new ship to pick us up? Neither of us want to be on that ship with Adam. And there’s something we need to talk about.”

“I-- yeah, sure!” Ruby said. “Is it--” she cut herself off to bite her lip. “Is it something that needs to be a conversation for all of us?”

Blake felt her shoulders tense a little. “Yeah, probably. Eventually. But…I don’t know if I can handle it twice the same day.”

Ruby gave her a smile that she probably thought didn’t show how tired she was. “Okay. I’ll see you in a little bit, all right? It’ll probably take us about half an hour to get back.”

“Okay.” Blake said, and that was that.

\---

The interior of the drop ship was dry and cool. The hull was vibrating slightly under Adam’s feet, but the walls were steady. He was cuffed properly now, which was a relief, because the cable wire from before had been too tight. His ankles had been chafed raw by the walk to the cliff, and Adam could feel the ring of dried blood around them, itchy and persistent. Adam kept his eyes firmly  _ closed _ , because the way the cops kept sneaking disgusted, pitying looks at his face made him feel ill.

Adam was still trying to take stock of his body by the time the ship had docked in Argus. His head was fuzzy and muffled. Every time he tried to think on it the thoughts would slip away, which meant….  _ something. _ Adam was too tired to remember the word for it. It wasn’t good, in any case.

He was thankful for the short ride. If the police had kept staring at his face like that Adam would’ve started screaming at them and trying to hurt them. Betrayal and bitterness kept pulsing through him, and Adam refused to stop them. Because if he wasn’t angry and bitter and cruel and jaded, he was going to start crying.

Gently, the ship lulled to a stop in a docking bay. Adam looked up from the floor where he’d been trying to count the metal rivets.

“Okay, come on,” said one of the cops, standing. “Can you walk on your own?”

“Yes!” Adam snapped, before trying to take a step and capsizing forward when the floor shifted. The guard caught him under the arm before he hit the ground, and Adam struggled not to be grateful.

“Don’t touch me,” he hissed, but the cop ignored him. They were wearing Atlas military gear, which….  _ maybe they’re soldiers, after all. _

Adam huffed and grumbled the entire way down from the docking bay to the brig, but by the time they got there he was so drained of energy that the soldier’s shoulder, wedged beneath Adam’s arm, was pretty much the only thing holding him up. 

The guards shoved him onto a bench and left him there. Hard light walls activated the moment they stepped away, trapping Adam in a cell made of dust. Adam hissed.  _ What a fat fucking waste of resources _ , he thought, before deciding that sitting upright was too much work. Gingerly, he lowered himself until he was lying sideways on the bench and closed his eyes in exhaustion.

\---

Adam hadn’t quite drifted off by the time new soldiers were shutting off the hard light barrier and hoisting him to his feet. His head spun and he groaned. They were lifting him by his elbows, and the strain on his bad shoulder was painful.

“Fuck,” Adam said, and wobbled forward a few steps as one of the soldiers pressed an impatient hand into the small of his back. “Where are you taking me?” he grumbled at them.

“Medical,” grunted one of the guards, “so you don’t bleed out all over the inside of our cells.”

“M’not bleeding,” Adam huffed, which wasn’t strictly true, judging by the iron taste in his mouth.

“Stow it,” the soldier snapped, and Adam was too tired to argue.

\---

The lights were bright white and cold. The room was empty save for a bench, sink, and chair. There was just enough grit and grease on the surface of the floor to make the place feel dingy, old, and uncared for. Adam frowned and sank onto the bench. It made a soft crunching sound as whatever padding was inside it compressed with his weight. The guards who’d been holding him up strode across the room towards their partner. At first, Adam thought they were going to leave, but they simply leaned against the wall and stared at him, hands on the butts of their guns. He  _ hated _ how their eyes kept drifting towards his scar.

By the time someone else entered the room, Adam was trembling with the effort of not screaming obscenities at the guards.

By their appearance, they seemed to be some kind of medical professional. They were tall and greasy, carrying a bulging black cloth bag. 

“Ugh,” they said, “this place is always dingy as hell.”

Adam eyed them warily as they set their bag down next to the chair and took a seat.

“So. Hi. I’m the guy who’s gonna be in charge of your health here in Argus.”

Adam grunted at them with narrowed eyes.  _ Great. A fucking human. _

“You can call me Dr. Merino,” they went on, apparently unfazed. “It’s Adam, right?”

Adam didn’t bother answering, and continued glaring at them as they unzipped the black bag and began pulling out various tools and supplies. Then, they turned to one of the soldiers and said, “Hey, Ash--Could you step outside for a second and bring back a change of clothes for him? I think one of the size six’s would do. Might be a bit long in the pants, but he can cuff’em.”

“Or, you know, you could just  _ ask _ me what size clothes I wear. Since I’m sitting right here.” Adam spat at the doctor.

They turned back to him. “Oh, I thought you were playing the I’m-not-talking-game. Sorry. What clothes size you wear?”

Adam thought about it, and shrugged. “Dunno.” 

Dr. Merino raised an eyebrow and made a shoo-ing motion at the guard. Then they pulled out a clipboard and clicked their pen. Adam was surprised at how they didn’t flinch when they looked at his face.  _ That’s fucking refreshing _ , he thought.  _ Though if they’re employed by the military they’ve probably seen worse in the field.  _

“All right. I’m going to start by doing a physical. You’re going to need to remove your shirt in a moment.”

The doctor scooted closer with their chair, and shone a flashlight into Adam’s eyes. He hissed in discomfort.  _ I just wanna go to sleep _ , he thought. The doctor pursed their lips, and pulled back a tad.

“Do you know how many times you hit your head?”

Adam shrugged again. “No.”

“Do you have a headache?” 

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’m going to need you to remove your shirt now. Are you experiencing any sharp pains in your abdomen or chest?”

“No,” Adam said as he fumbled with the buttons. “Shoulder’s fucked up, though. Think I tore something.”

“We’ll take a look in a minute. Here, I’m going to help you with that.”

Adam tensed as Dr. Merino’s hands brushed against his skin as they helped him remove his jacket and undershirt. A bit of dried blood crumbled off the hem and fell onto the floor. Adam could feel his face getting red from the embarrassment and the anger. But the doctor didn’t make any comments about Adam’s clumsiness.

They  _ did _ , however, pull a face at the pattern of bruises on Adam’s abdomen. “So, uh, what the hell did  _ that? _ ”

Adam looked down. There was the perfect imprint of the grille, headlamp, and tire from Yang’s motorcycle rendered in bright, puffy purple bruises on his solar plexus. He felt his mouth open a little in surprise.

“Oh,” Adam said, shocked. “Uh, that’d be from a motorcycle that my ex’s partner launched at me.”

“Launched?” 

“Yes. From the top of a cliff.”

“I--” Dr. Merino bit their lip, clearly trying keep themselves from laughing. “Uh, okay. Sorry, this is -- unprofessional. Just--” they cut themselves off to take a breath. “Okay. Sorry. Let’s, uh, focus.”

The rest of the physical went smoothly, except when Dr. Merino moved Adam’s left arm in a way that made his entire shoulder scream in pain and feel like the joint was going to pop out of place.

“Fuck!” Adam yelped in surprise.

“Ah, yeah, sorry.” Dr. Merino said. “It looks like one ligaments is torn. You’ll have to keep that arm in a sling for the next couple weeks.” They made a couple notes in their clipboard and sat back in their chair. 

“Is there anything you do for your burn scar? Wounds like that usually need long-term care.”

Adam bit his lip and felt the guard’s eyes boring into him. “I use eye drops. The tear gland in that eye doesn’t work right any more. And oil based moisturizer to keep the scar tissue healthy. Sometimes I have to take pills to keep the itching down.” 

Dr. Merino nodded, writing on their clipboard. “I’ll see about what I can do to get you the eye drops and antihistamines. I’ve got some moisturizer here which you can have. Do you have any allergies?”

“....Latex. Found  _ that  _ out when the compression wrap for my eye had latex in it.”

Dr. Merino winced. “Good to know. Okay. Let’s get those cuts wrapped and your shoulder stabilized.”

\---

The new cell had actual walls, which Adam deeply appreciated. No more waste of dust, and no more awful humming noise. He’d nearly fallen asleep on the way there-- one of the soldiers had actually had to pinch his side before Adam snapped out of his stupor.

He didn’t think he’d ever been so tired in his life. As soon as he saw the cot in the corner, he made a beeline for it. Once his head had hit the mattress, he was asleep in ten seconds flat.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea if I'll continue writing this, tbh. I really just wanted to take a look at what kind of burn-care Adam has to do for his scars, and this fic grew out of that. Also, wanted to explore Weiss & the potential in her finding out that Adam has an SDC logo branded on his face. I probably should've made Adam a bit angrier in this fic, but.... eh? my excuse is that atm he's super concussed and not quite himself.  
> also did very little editing or drafting so if theres weird shit and fucked up sentences... it be like that sometimes.
> 
> let me know what you liked, please! thanks for reading :)


End file.
